More Than Magical
by IrresoluteSongbird
Summary: Strange things have been happening to Annabelle Lennox. Her family and the Autobots learn that in this world, there is always more than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Unnecessary author's notes: JSYK, this is my first ever fanfic. I do not have a Beta reader. This story shall focus on Transformers characters (live action film, G1, Prime mashup of sorts) getting caught up in American wizardry :)

Disclaimer: If you're familiar with the fandoms (you'd better be if you're reading this), you'll recognize what is and is not mine.

On to the story!

* * *

><p>Sarah Lennox glanced out of the window of her home, taking in the stretches of land and rolling hills of the ranch, which were bathed in the golden light of the late-afternoon sun. Noting the stillness of the land, she sighed, before glancing at the clock on her living room wall. Mentally shaking herself, she put on a beaming smile as she turned to face her nine-year-old daughter Annabelle, who had been vying for her attention.<p>

"Mommy, are you even listening to me?" the girl pouted severely.

"Of course, Honey," Sarah replied, looking at her daughter and adding, "My goodness! Turn that frown around before your lovely face gets stuck like that!" She sighed dramatically and said in a mock melancholy voice, "Oh that poor little girl Annabelle used to be so attractive; she looked so much like her Mommy and Daddy before she turned into this terrifying, pouting gargoyle!"

Annabelle broke into giggles, before proceeding to grimace even more horribly, trying to outdo her previous pouting and get a reaction from her mother. Sarah made terrible faces back at her daughter, and they went back and forth, trying not to giggle, as they twisted their faces into outrageous expressions.

Suddenly, they heard the distant roar of an engine, and the girls gasped, stopping their game to look out the window. Speeding down the gravel driveway was a huge, black GMC Topkick, with dust and stones being kicked up in its wake. Annabelle squealed excitedly, and Sarah felt her breath catch as they both rushed outside onto the porch and down the steps into the driveway. The truck came to an abrupt stop in a billow of dust, and from the passenger's side, out came Will Lennox.

"How are my lovely ladies doing?" he grinned as he looked at his wife and daughter.

"DADDYYY!" Annabelle sprinted to her father, her blond curls bouncing as he swung her up into the air and pulled her into an embrace. He set her down as Sarah approached, and the little girl promptly ran to the truck, squealing, "'HIDE!" She attached herself to the warm front grills and the Autobot gruffly replied, "Annabelle," as Will and Sarah kissed in greeting, snuggling, glad to be together after spending months apart.

Several hours later, Annabelle was tucked snugly into bed, Ironhide was relaxing in his alt form, near the barn, and Will and Sarah were snuggled together on the porch swing, watching the sky darken and the stars appear.

"So," Will said.

"So," Sarah smiled softly.

"Really, how have things been here with Annabelle?"

"Well..." Sarah thoughtfully bit at her bottom lip.

"What? You know you can tell me anything, love," Will said, squeezing her shoulders lightly.

"I'm worried about Annabelle," Sarah paused, unsure of how to explain herself, "It's just...things have been happening lately...strange things. There are just these little things that I've been trying to explain away, but, combined, there seems to be a larger trend...I-I know I'm not making any sense, but there's something...different...about Annabelle lately," she finished, looking at Will to gauge his reaction.

Will looked down at her, his brow furrowed with worry. "Is there something wrong with Annabelle? Is she sick?" he questioned.

"No-well, at least, I don't think so, but," she seemed to gain courage before launching into an explanation: "We were out in the fields, and, you know how Annie has that fascination with butterflies? Well, she was chasing after them unsuccessfully, at first, but, somehow, they all began to come right to her! It didn't even look like they were flying; they just sort of glided to where she was sitting! And when I cut her hair a couple of weeks ago, I cut it shorter than she wanted, and after spending hours pouting in her room, she came down, and her hair was as long as it had been before I cut it at all! And then, just last week, I made a cake, and she kept trying to pick at the frosting. I moved it up to the top of the fridge, and I left the room for JUST A FEW SECONDS! I come back, and there she is on the floor, cake between her legs, sticking her fingers into the frosting. There was NO WAY she would've had time to pull a chair over to stand on or anything. And this morning, she jumped out of the apple tree in back! My heart nearly gave out, but when I ran to her, she was just giggling and there WASN'T A SCRATCH ON HER! She fell at least 15 feet and was perfectly fine! Will," she begged, looking at him imploringly, "you have to believe me; I'm not just going nuts or imagining it. I tried to convince myself that I was just paranoid or not getting enough sleep, but things like this have been happening for MONTHS!" her voice had risen until she was practically yelling at her husband. She stopped, taking a deep, calming breath, gazing at Will in the moonlight.

"Wow," Will said softly, "This has really been stressing you out, hasn't it," he sighed, before continuing, "Sarah, honey, I believe you, I truly do. I'm sorry I haven't been here for you for so long." He looked down guiltily for a long moment before looking intently back up at her, "But I'm here now, and I promise you that we will find out what's going on with Belle."

Sarah smiled softly at her husband. "I'm so glad to have both of my men back home," she turned to where the Topkick had been silently creeping closer around the corner of the house, grinning at Ironhide. The mech grumbled a bit before saying, "If there is something wrong with the sparkling, we should take her to see Ratchet," his distaste at the idea was clear in his tone, but Sarah just smiled, before walking down to pat him on his hood. "Thanks, Big Guy. It's wonderful to have our whole family home again."

* * *

><p>Please review! I'd love feedback!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Unnecessary author's notes: JSYK, this is my first ever fanfic. I do not have a Beta reader. This story shall focus on Transformers characters (live action film, G1, Prime mashup of sorts) getting caught up in American wizardry :)

Disclaimer: If you're familiar with the fandoms (you'd better be if you're reading this), you'll recognize what is and is not mine.

On to the story!

* * *

><p>"And guess what Peter brought 'Hide," Annabelle grinned from where she sat in the backseat of his alt mode, legs kicking back and forth.<p>

"I wouldn't know, Annabelle...What did your classmate bring to show-and-tell?" Ironhide's voice came through the speakers.

"A SNAKE! A real, actual python! It was as long as me! It was wicked, 'Hide, you shoulda seen it!"

Ironhide was silent for a moment as he sped down the highway towards base; Will was listening to their conversation from where he sat in the driver's seat, his hands resting lightly on the wheel (just for show, of course), and Sarah was curled up in the passenger's seat, lightly dozing.

"But, Major Lennox," Ironhide began, sounding troubled, "Are large snakes not extremely dangerous? A child shouldn't own a slagging python, much less bring it to a school!"

"But 'Hide!" Annabelle piped up in exasperation, "THIS snake wasn't dangerous. Peter said he got it when it was a baby, so it's used to humans and stuff. I even got to pet it! And it felt so cool! It was all-"

"YOU TOUCHED A SNAKE!" Ironhide yelled, making everyone jump and waking up Sarah, who scrambled up, looking around in confusion.

"Jesus, 'Hide! Chill!" Will commanded.

"William, do not tell me to 'chill.' Do you not care that your youngling was in danger?"

"But, 'Hide-" Annabelle began to whine from the back seat, before her father put up a hand, silencing her.

"Ironhide. You know how Sam has a chihuahua? Mojo?"

"Fraggin' vermin," 'Hide growled quietly, causing Will to grin and Annabelle to frown. Sarah still looked confused.

"Well," Will continued, "that dog is capable of biting humans and doing some serious damage."

Ironhide snorted derisively, and Will rolled his eyes, before saying, "Okay, maybe not THAT dog, but other, larger dogs could really hurt us humans."

"Yes?" Ironhide prompted impatiently.

"Or even better, how about YOU, Ironhide?" Will asked. "In a split second you could obliterate us all! You could shoot us with your giant cannons or just STEP on us, and-"

"I would NEVER harm you or your family, Will!" Ironhide interrupted, sounding outraged, "I'm your GUARDIAN!"

"Exactly!" Will replied.

"Uh...what?"

"You're capable of harming us, but we know that you won't! Just like Mojo...er...OTHER dogs could harm their owners, they don't because they don't want to! They are trained to be companions, or guardians, or, just, well, PETS! They have no reason to hurt us! Just like Peter's snake-"

"Sam!" Annabelle helpfully interjected.

"What, Sweetie?" Will asked

"Sam!" she repeated patiently, "That's his name! The snake's name is Sam!"

"Er, yes, SAM wouldn't harm Peter because he's been trained since birth not to. Why bite the hand that feeds you and cares for you?" Will finished his explanation as Ironhide turned into the driveway that lead to NEST's stateside base.

Soldiers standing guard at the entrance gate barely had to glance at the recognizable weapons specialist and Captain Lennox, who was holding up his badge, before allowing the tall fence to slide open.

"Oooh, can we see Bumblebee first?" Annabelle asked, the previous conversation forgotten in the face of such excitement. "Or Sunny and Sides? Are they here? Is Arcee? Optimus? Ratchet?"

Ironhide chuckled, before answering, "Yes, they should all be here, Annabelle. We'll have time to stop by and see them all."

"Even Optimus?" she asked.

"Yup. I need to check in with him this afternoon, so you can come along."

"But Annie," Sarah said, "Remember that you're here for a checkup with Dr. Ratchet first."

"Your mother is right, Annabelle," Ironhide sighed, "we gotta go see ol' Hatchet first."

"'Hatchet'?" Annabelle asked.

"Yup," Ironhide replied in a wicked voice, "That's Ratchet's nickname, just like you're called Annie or Belle. You should call him that; all his good friends do."

"Okay," Annabelle grinned.

"Ironhide," Sarah chided gently.

"Mrs. Lennox, I am being completely honest."

Will grinned, and Sarah rolled her eyes. Annabelle was looking eagerly out the window as the Topkick sped across the sprawling base towards the old hanger that the Autobot medic had taken over and converted into a med bay.

"Hello, Annabelle," Ratchet gave the little girl a warm smile as he knelt in front of her and her mother (Will and Ironhide had a god-awful diplomatic meeting to attend.) "Sarah," he nodded at her, "it is good to see the both of you."

Before Sarah could say anything, Annabelle happily responded, "Hiya, Hatchet!"

Ratchet froze, his smile slowly turning into a grimace. "Let me guess: Ironhide told you to call me that," he said darkly.

"Yup," Annabelle replied.

"Sorry!" Sarah mouthed at him.

Ratchet heaved a sigh through his vents, pinching his nose, and he rose to his full height, muttering curses in Cybertronian.

"Well, come along then. Let's get this over with," he stated before leading them deeper into the med bay. 

Several boring and invasive scans later, Annabelle was desperately bored and antsy, Sarah was worried, and Ratchet just looked troubled.

"Mrs. Lennox-" he began, before being interrupted by the doors of the med bay bursting inward.  
>In zoomed two shining Ferrari 458 Italias, their engines roaring. One was bright red, the other yellow.<p>

"AARGH, Have you fragging glitch-heads ever heard of KNOCKING!" Ratchet yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

"SUNNYSIDESYAAAAY!" Annabelle shrieked, running towards the edge of the large table she had been standing on. Before Sarah or Ratchet could move, Annabelle had taken a running leap off of the edge of the 25-foot-high table. Sarah cried out, and Ratchet dove forward, hands outstretched to catch Annabelle, but there was no need; Annabelle floated over his hands and landed gently in front of the two Ferraris, which were mid-transformation. Annabelle giggled as Sideswipe swept her up, before handing her off lightly to Sunstreaker. Ratchet and Sarah were frozen, their mouths hanging open. The twins and the little girl didn't seem to notice anything was wrong.

"C'mon kid, we've come to rescue you from this ol' doc bot!" Sides declared, grinning at the joyfully laughing child before placing her gently on his shoulder, where she clung to the side of his helm.

"Yup, see ya around, Hatch!" Sunny added, smirking, before the two Autobots jogged toward the huge doors.

"Please!" Sarah recovered just in time to give a strangled yell to the bots, who turned to face the distressed woman, pausing in their escape. Sarah smiled a little as she said more gently, "Just be careful."

"You don't need to worry about us, Mrs. Lennox!" Sunny grinned.

"We're the definition of safe!" Sides smiled wickedly, Annabelle giggling from her perch on his shoulder.

Ratchet made a scornful noise, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at the twins.

"Alright. Have fun!" Sarah said, before yelling after them, "And be back before lunch time! Annie needs to eat!"

She sighed and looked at Ratchet, who shook his head, before saying, "I believe we need to have a talk. And Will and Prime should both be here."

"'Hide should be here too," Sarah added, causing Ratchet to snort.

"As if he'd give us an option."

Sarah grinned fondly and stepped into the hand that Ratchet offered to her, before they both headed off to find the others. 

The twins silently crouched behind a large counter in the Autobots' rec room. Annabelle sat in Sunny's hand, holding her own hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. They watched as the tactician Prowl entered the room now that his shift was over; he approached a large cabinet across the room, getting himself a cube of highgrade. He lifted it to his mouth, as the twins and Belle watched, holding their breath in anticipation. Prowl sputtered, spraying colorful paint everywhere, choking and dropping the cube of something that was most definitely NOT energon. The three responsible couldn't contain themselves at the sight of the baffled, unhappy mech whose plain black and white paint job was now dripping with disgustingly bright neon paint, the lower half of his helm positively COVERED in the stuff, as he continued to sputter and spit more of the mess all over the furniture. Sunny, Sides, and Belle were in hysterics, and the angry victim quickly figured out what had happened. With a growl, Prowl stalked over to the twins, raising his fists.

"Oi!" Sides yelped, grabbing Annabelle from his brother. He held the tiny girl in front of them like a shield, causing Prowl to freeze.

"NO!" Annabelle shrieked, still giggling, as she crawled like a little monkey back up his arm, trying to put herself behind the red mech.

Prowl quickly reached down and grabbed up the child, who was still shrieking with glee, before gently setting her on top of the counter. "Stay, sparkling," he commanded, before quickly spinning to the twins, firing at them with his guns.

"AAARGH, PROWL, YOU FRAGGER, STOP!" Sides cried.

"SLAG!" Sunny yelped, and the twins ran out of the room, the now rainbow-colored tactician hot on their tails.

Arcee and Bumblebee quickly flattened themselves against the wall of the hallway they were walking down, as the three Autobots sprinted past, yelling at each other in Cybertronian  
>"Nice paintjob," Arcee smirked after them.<p>

"VERY NICE" Bee agreed (despite Ratchet's best efforts, his voice was still rough and staticky, so he preferred to use other sound clips and the radio to communicate.)

"It kinda looks like he has facial hair," Arcee added thoughtfully, as the two peeled themselves off of the wall and continued into the rec room.

"BEE! ARCEE!" Annabelle cried from the top of the counter.

"Hello! Hello, hellooo!" The Beatles sang from Bee, and Arcee smiled, saying, "Hey there, kiddo. How about we get you down from there, hm?" She offered her hands to Annabelle, who quickly clambered onto them. The little girl was deposited onto Bumblebee's shoulder, and the two Autobots headed off to find something entertaining. 

"So, you're telling us that something is wrong with our daughter, but you have no idea what's wrong or what to do about it," William Lennox stated flatly.

Ratchet sighed in response before saying, "There is no indication that something is WRONG. Actually, my scanners indicate nothing out of the ordinary at all. But that doesn't mean there isn't something going on with Annabelle; I do not understand what could be causing this, or why I can't seem to pick ANYTHING up on my fragging scanners!" Ratchet's frustration was evident in his heated tone and scowling face-plates.

"Look Hatchet. We're going home for the week, but you had better slaggin' think of something to fix Annabelle," Ironhide growled threateningly.

"Ironhide. Calm down," Optimus gently commanded. "Mr. and Mrs. Lennox," he said, turning to the concerned couple, who were seated on top of Ratchet's table, at eye-level of the seated mechs, "It is a point that whatever is happening to little Annabelle is not harmful; if anything, from what you have told me, it seems that these...anomalies...have been protecting her."

"I'M the ONLY protector she needs," Ironhide snarled.

"But you have been away, fighting with the rest of us," Optimus reminded him. "While you were gone, it seems that whatever this is has been protecting her."

"But it's not just been protecting her," Sarah said anxiously. "It's not good for her to eat the frosting off of a cake! And what if she wants something more harmful than butterflies? Or-"

"Honey," Will interrupted, "Everything's gonna be fine. I've yet to see something ol' Ratchet here can't solve." Will directed a grin that was still slightly strained towards the medic.

Sarah sighed softly, before saying, "Please. Just help me keep my daughter safe."

"I can promise you, Sarah Lennox, that the Autobots will do all that they possibly can to keep your child safe and healthy."

"Thank you, Optimus," she smiled.

"Well, if that's it, let's get the slag outta here," Ironhide declared, getting up and heading for the door. "NOT SO FAST." Ratchet leapt up and stomped to the doorway, blocking 'Hide. He put his hands on his hips and leaned intimidatingly towards the weapons specialist. "If that sparkling calls me by ANYTHING other than my proper name from now on, I will not hesitate to offline you!"

Ironhide grinned and said, "Sure thing, Doc!" before transforming into his alt mode and driving to where Optimus was gently setting down the Lennoxes on the floor.

"Let's find Annie and go home," Sarah said, barely suppressing a yawn, suddenly exhausted. The couple climbed into the truck before the Topkick sped off. Optimus chuckled upon seeing how royally ticked off his CMO was. "You know you miss not having him around as much," he said slyly.

Ratchet gave a disdainful scoff, before stalking off, muttering, "Puh-lease!"

* * *

><p>Please review! I NEED FEEDBACK!IHQWUIU!#D*#(RO!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Unnecessary author's notes: JSYK, this is my first ever fanfic. I do not have a Beta reader. This story shall focus on Transformers characters (live action film, G1, Prime mashup of sorts) getting caught up in American wizardry :)

Disclaimer: If you're familiar with the fandoms (you'd better be if you're reading this), you'll recognize what is and is not mine.

On to the story!

* * *

><p>Sarah smiled to herself as she listened to the shrieks Annabelle was making upon being found by Ironhide in their epic game of Hide and Seek. She felt arms snake around her waist as she stood at the window.<p>

"Even I have to admit, those two are adorable," Will said grinning, as he rested his chin on Sarah's shoulder.

"Mmmmm..." Sarah replied as Will kissed her neck, "Despite the fact that he's a giant cannon-bearing warrior, our Ironhide really is just a big softy."

Ironhide, who had been running past the kitchen window where they stood, pursuing Annabelle across the backyard, froze, retorting hotly, "I am NOT!"

"Oh, really?" Sarah grinned.

"NO! Or...YES! Er-"

Will and Sarah laughed at Ironhide as he bent down, indignantly yelling, "You two-why I oughta-I'll show you SOFT-" before freezing completely. He looked baffled, and then angry as he transformed quickly into his alt mode

"Ironhide! Wha-"

"Perimeter breach," he said curtly. "It's an unknown human." Sarah quickly ran to the backdoor, ushering Annie inside, just as there came a knock on the front door.

"Stay here," Will commanded calmly, before heading to the front door.

He opened it, his face stern and emotionless, to see a thin, nervous-looking man with an outdated suit and a briefcase in hand.

"M-Mr. Lennox?" he asked, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose. They were slightly crooked, and that, combined with the haphazard graying auburn hair, the rumpled, old brown suit, and the purple bowtie, made him look more than just slightly mad.

"Yes?" Will responded, his intimidating face replaced with mild confusion and wariness.

"Mr. Albert Tompkins at your service," he smiled weakly, offering a hand to the captain, who shook it.

"I am here on official business from the American Council of Magic. I'm part of the Muggle Relations division, and I'm here to talk to you and your wife about your daughter Annabelle." The man fumbled for a business card, which Will took with a frown.

"There is a great deal I need to explain, so, if it would suit you, I would like to meet a few times throughout the next few weeks."

"Uhmm, we're not interested, thanks," Will said, frowning deeply, as he made to close the front door.

"NO! Wait! Please, let me explain! I just-"

"Honey," Sarah said, as she approached from behind, "Let him speak." She had been eavesdropping and was intrigued by the strange fellow on their doorstep.

"Where's Belle?" Will asked tersely.

"In back. With her playmate," Sarah added, briefly meeting Will's eyes. "Now. Mr...?"

"Tompkins," he supplied

"Mr. Tompkins. I'm Sarah Lennox," she said, offering her hand to him. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yes, please, Mrs. Lennox. This may take a few minutes." He gave an awkward smile as he followed Sarah into the living room, taking the seat she offered him. Sarah and Will sat on the couch across the coffee table from Mr. Tompkins.

Will still glared at the man, who sweated nervously under his intimidating gaze. After a moment of awkward silence, Mr. Tompkins fumbled in his pocket before pulling out a shiny wooden stick that appeared to be about a foot long.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox," he began, "I will try to explain the basics to you first, but your daughter Annabelle should be present for some of this."

Sarah nodded at him to go on; Will remained still and tense.

"This may come as a bit of a shock to you both, but there are beings in this country and on this planet other than the humans and animals with which you are familiar."

Will and Sarah both looked extremely confused, but not for the reasons the man expected.

Ironhide tensed up from where he had been listening, causing Annabelle to pipe up from within his cab, "Hide, what's wr-" before he shushed her. Seeing her slightly hurt look, he said quickly, "It's not you, Annie, it's just important that I hear this conversation your parents are having. I'll explain later." Mollified, the little girl just nodded.

"Look," Will began, "We already-"

"Please!" Mr. Tompkins interrupted, "Let me finish explaining, then I will try to answer the questions you have!"

Sarah looked pointedly at her husband, who simply nodded.

"Like I was saying, there is more in the world than meets the eye." Will covered his snort with an awkward cough. "Living among you are people who possess...different...abilities. They have existed as long as the human race, although it was only in the past 1000 years that it became necessary to hide; to blend in to normal society."

Will and Sarah looked at each other, now thoroughly confused. This didn't sound like the speech that they had been expecting.

"There are myths, stories that speak of some of these earlier times, some more accurate than others. Basically, what I'm saying is: magic. It's alive and well and much more real than most nonmagical folk believe. There exist thousands of wizards and witches around the world, and hosts of other creatures and beings that are a part of this hidden world. I'm here as a part of a program set up by the President of Magical America that's intended to smooth the transition that Muggle-born wizards and witches undergo."

"Muggle?" Will asked.

"Oh, sorry. It means a nonmagical human, like you and your wife."

"And that?" Sarah asked in a slightly strangled voice, gesturing to the stick the man was still holding in his right hand.

"Ah, yes. And this is my wand," he said with a small smile. "I know this is likely too impossible to believe right now, but perhaps a demonstration would help." He murmured something in Latin that the couple on the sofa couldn't make out, while waving his wand at the coffee table. To the astonishment of Will and Sarah, the table suddenly and smoothly shifted into a small dog, which eagerly ran around, sniffing at everything, wagging its tail.

Sarah and Will sat silently gaping at the little yellow mutt for a moment, and then the man waved his wand and it once again became a table. Silently, the man made a different series of motions with his wand, causing the coffee table to rise several feet into the air, before it gently returned to the carpeted floor.

"How-" Sarah began.

"Something else," Will interrupted, eyeing the coffee table suspiciously. "Use the TV," he gestured to the black electronic device to their right. The man simply flicked his wand at it, and it promptly caught fire. Sarah gasped, and Mr. Tompkins quickly shot water out of his wand, dousing the fire, leaving the TV a smoking, melting mess. He jabbed his wand toward the TV, which was suddenly as good as new. One last wave of his wand got rid of the lingering smell of burnt plastic. The couple sat there mute for a good 30 seconds, before Sarah seemed to come to a realization. "She's a witch, isn't she?" she said slowly. "Annabelle! She's a witch! Will, that explains it!" Sarah was suddenly excited as she turned to her husband.

"Well..." Will said; he still sounded skeptical and was eyeing Albert Tompkins warily.

"Will!" Sarah hissed at him. "Is it really THAT unbelievable? Think of all the things that you once thought impossible that are now our reality; why can't this be real too?"

After an internal battle, Will seemed to come to a decision.

"Should we get Annabelle now?" he asked, sounding resigned.

"Erm, yes, that would be a good idea," Mr. Tompkins responded, sounding slightly taken aback. Will stood and headed down the hall.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Tompkins?" Sarah inquired.

"No, not at all, it's just..." he sounded a bit confused, "you believe me?" It came out as a question.

Sarah smiled at him, before explaining, "Let's just say that we've had previous experience with the seemingly unbelievable; it's not too far of a leap for us to believe you. Besides, this would offer an explanation to the strange things that have been happening to Annabelle lately."  
>"Ah," he smiled, "Yes, in young wizards and witches, uncontrolled bursts of magic can occur when the child is extremely frightened or angry."<p>

"Well...yes, it's happened when Annie was scared and upset, but things have also happened...just because she wanted them to."

"Hm. Although it's rare, sometimes children will discover their abilities because they are either particularly powerful, or they have had emotional cause for bursts of magic and have noticed." 

Meanwhile, as Will headed outside, Ironhide's processors were almost short-circuiting. There had been a LIVING BEING with a HEARTBEAT that had not been in the room before. Just as his scanners had been confirming it, the dog had disappeared. Completely. Just like that. And the fire? Certainly Ironhide had read Annabelle stories that involved evil witches and mysterious and clever wizards. He had even seen the Disney film "The Sword in the Stone," with his young charge. But the idea that those ridiculous tales were based on reality? Impossible! Ratchet would have known...wouldn't he? Wouldn't it have shown up on his scanners? How could the Autobots have missed something as big as this? Surely they would have found some evidence of a secret society of magical beings...then again, maybe magic just wasn't detectable on electronic scans. Maybe the Cybertronians just weren't hardwired to deal with some unseen force like "magic." Ironhide internally scoffed at himself. Even entertaining the notion that the scrawny man in the Lennox household was telling the truth was ridiculous. Ironhide had already sent recordings of the whole ordeal, along with the scans he took while the man had been giving his demonstration, to Prime to get his opinion. Knowing that Optimus was involved made Ironhide feel slightly better; Prime would know what to do. By this point in his musings, Will had opened Ironhide's passenger door to get Annabelle, who had been reading quietly in the back seat.

"Will-" Ironhide began.

"We'll talk later, Hide," Will cut him off. "Right now, we need Annabelle to come in. Annie, honey, there's someone here to see you."

"Who, Daddy?" she asked as she leapt out of Ironhide onto the grass, almost losing her pink flip-flops.

"His name's Mr. Tompkins, Princess," he replied as they walked into the house and back into the living room.

"Annabelle?" Mr. Tompkins asked, smiling, as he got out of his chair, holding out a hand that she shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Albert Tompkins, and I'm from the American Council of Magic."

Annabelle's eyes grew wider at the last word. Mr. Tompkins smiled at her response and said, "Since it sounds like you might already have an idea that something strange has been happening, I'll just cut to the chase, my dear. You're a witch. One of thousands in this country and in the world. Soon, your magical schooling will begin, but we'd like to get you more familiar with the wizarding world first to make the transition easier."

Annabelle seemed to consider this for a moment, before she nodded decisively. "Alright. But why aren't my Mommy and Daddy magical too? How could I be a witch?" Her parents seemed rather shocked by her immediate acceptance.

"Well, there are lots of wizards and witches like you in the world. Born to Muggle, or nonmagical, parents. Just like the child of a witch and wizard can be a Muggle. Though, in that case, people more commonly refer to them as being a 'squib.' The reason I'm here is because you have nonmagical parents and are therefore unfamiliar with our world. There are a couple of wizarding schools in America, and there are many more around the world, should you choose to be educated abroad. Schooling generally starts at the age of 11. So for the next year and a half, we'll work on teaching you about wizarding society and history and how to get around the wizarding communities of America."

"Wicked," Annabelle grinned.

"Now," Mr. Tompkins said, finally reaching into his briefcase, "I have some papers that I will need for you to sign before I get going."

"Wait," Will said, "You're leaving? After dropping a bomb on us like that? 'Oh hey, there are wizards secretly living amongst you, your kid's one of 'em, but I've got to run, have fun with this information!'"

"Mr. Lennox," the man sounded slightly exasperated, "I'm not leaving for good. I have other business to attend to today, but I'd like to set up a meeting next week, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course," Sarah replied.

The man went back to digging in his briefcase, shoving his arm in impossibly deep, up to his shoulder. The bag was far too small for this to be possible, and Will and Sarah stared.

Annabelle, on the other hand, was bouncing eagerly, peering into his briefcase.

"That's so cool! You're like Mary Poppins!"

The man looked confused and asked, "Mary who?"

"You've never seen Mary Poppins?" Annabelle was shocked, "You know, the movie with the pretty lady who sings and has a magic carpet bag like yours? And there's the chimney sweep and she has an umbrella and-"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I have not seen many Muggle films," he cut her off apologetically. "Ah! Here we are!"

He pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of parchment, an eagle feather quill, and a bottle of ink.

"Seriously?" Will asked, "What century are we in again? Haven't you wizards ever heard of pens?"

"Will!" Sarah chided him, "Don't be rude."

"It's quite alright, Mrs. Lennox. This is one of many things that we'll have to discuss in later sessions. In the magical world, we do not use many Muggle inventions; we prefer our way of life," he said simply.

"Well, I think it's wicked awesome!" Annabelle was again bouncing up and down in excitement.  
>"Now, I need both of your signatures here on this pledge to adhere to the Statute of Secrecy. This is your promise not to speak of what you heard today with anyone," Mr. Tompkins said as he set the parchment and quill before the couple on the coffee table.<p>

"Whoa," Will said, "Who are you to tell us that we can't tell close friends we trust that Annie's a witch?"

"Mr. Lennox-"

"Rather than friends, can we at least tell our family? They would figure out something's going on anyways. And we can certainly trust them to keep this to themselves," Sarah interrupted reasonably.

"Yes, of course," Mr. Tompkins said, smiling, "We just need to have your word that you won't expose our whole world."

After some fumbling with the quill, Sarah and Will both signed the parchment.

"Well, I best be off!" Mr. Tompkins declared, leaping to his feet and shoving everything back into his briefcase. "Is next Wednesday alright to meet again?"

"Of course," Sarah smiled as she led him to the door.

* * *

><p>If you review, I'll respond and love you forever :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

You know the drill. Don't own, never will. (BAH RHYMES I AM MAGICAL)

Anyways, on to the next chapter!

* * *

><p>"What the hell were you thinking?" Will asked his wife as soon as she closed the door on their eccentric visitor. "'Family'? We don't have any freakin' family!"<p>

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, William!" Sarah growled, causing her husband to flinch backwards, his hands held up in defeat.

"Okay, okay, sorry, Love."

"Will, I suspect I have a very different definition of 'family' than Mr. Tompkins. Not like we could do anything about it at this point, even if that weren't the case; I suspect that 'Hide and Optimus both know exactly what's happening. But I didn't really break our agreement because they are our family."

"But Sarah, what if there's some voodoo spell on the contract or some shit, and we'll turn into, like, frogs or something for going against the agreement?"

"Watch the language, Love. We've yet to transform, but I suppose we can test it out on 'Hide to see if we can talk about it. It's not like it really matters because he already knows." The couple turned to go outside, heading towards the back door.

"Where's Belle?" Will asked.

They found their answer when they walked out to find Ironhide in his bipedal form, Annabelle excitedly running and jumping around his feet, talking a mile a minute.

"I just knew it, 'Hide! Oh, I'm so excited for school, and I wanna learn EVERYTHING, and I wonder what the classes are like, and I wonder if I can actually turn someone into a frog, and when will I get a wand? Oh, I knew I was different, now I know I'm not going crazy, not that I thought I was going crazy 'cause I dunno what it feels like to go bonkers, but I didn't think I was going insane! I understand everything now! EEEEEE, I'm so EXCITED, IRONHIDE!"

Sarah and Will both laughed at Ironhide's look of bemusement, as he stood completely still, following Annabelle's weaving, circular path with his optics.

"So, 'Hide. Bet you didn't see that coming," Will said as he sidled up to the Autobot.

"Lennox, how…? There's no way this can be true…is there? Wouldn't Ratch' have found something?"

"Maybe magic just isn't detectable to electronic scans," Sarah reasoned with a shrug. "But…our daughter's a witch!" She paused, waiting to turn into a frog. When nothing happened, she went on, "I'm just glad we have an answer! And let me guess, you've let Optimus know?" Sarah approached the mech.

Ironhide took a few steps back before settling himself down on the ground, with a groan and the hissing of hydraulics; it sounded like a few joints could've used quite a bit of oil.

"You okay, there, old-timer?" Will grinned as the family sat down, leaning against Ironhide's outstretched legs.

"Can it, Lennox," Ironhide grumbled.

"Aw, you know you love me, Big Guy."

Ironhide snorted, then paused as a transmission from Optimus came in response to the recordings he had sent.

:Ironhide. Transmissions received. It would seem as though we have an answer, albeit an unpredictable and surprising one:

:Prime. Don't tell me ya actually believe all this. Just like that?:

:You've witnessed what happened yourself, soldier. Though it may be a surprise to us all, it would seem that there is indeed 'more than meets the eye' in this world:

Ironhide groaned over the comm link in response, and Optimus chuckled at what had become a ridiculously appropriate catchphrase.

:Oh, and Ironhide? You have the honors of informing Ratchet of this development when you come for the check-up and meetings at base tomorrow:

There was a long moment of silence before Ironhide replied :scrap:

Optimus again laughed, before finishing with :Optimus out, old friend:

Ironhide grumbled before responding :Ironhide out, sir:

Annabelle had managed to clamber up to Ironhide's shoulder while he had been to talking to Optimus.

"So, what'd Optimus have to say?" Will guessed correctly what had kept the mech preoccupied.

"The meetings at base shall proceed as expected tomorrow. Prime believes all of this slag already."

"Ironhide," Sarah sounded exasperated. "What is there to not believe? You heard and sensed what Mr. Tompkins did. This all makes sense; it's the answer I've been looking for for months."

"'Hide! 'Hide! Look, 'Hide! See what I can do?" Annabelle crowed from her perch, as the branches of the tree he was leaning against began to sway back and forth in a strange synchronized dance.

Ironhide gaped. There was no wind! No explanation! How…? His vocalizer clicked and made some static for a moment, unable to form speech. Suddenly he looked down at Will.

"Will, your cellular phone is vibrating on the counter of the kitchen."

Will leapt up and ran inside. Seeing the name "Epps" on the caller i.d., he flipped open the phone with a grin.

"Yo! Epps! How's it going, my man?"

"Pretty damn good, Lennox! It'd be a helluva lot better if you'd remembered to show up for guy's night."

Will swore as he looked at the clock: 5:40

"Yeah, that's right, you messed up, my man! And you gonna be a whole lot more messed up when me and the guys are through with you! Ain't that right, fellas?" He called out to the crowd of friends sitting around the big table at the noisy bar. A chorus of yells confirmed his threat, and Will groaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes.

"Look, Bobby, something big's come up. Something important. It's kind of a family thing. I can't make it at all tonight. But I swear to you I'll make it up!"

"We'll let you off the hook this once. But you know what? When you see me at base tomorrow, you gonna tell me what's so goddamn important that you'd miss a night with the boys."

"Look. Bobby-"

"Nuh-uh, you ain't gettin' outta this one, man! Besides, even if you tried, you know I'd get it outta you anyways. No one can resist the Epps charm."

Will laughed before saying, "Alright, alright, I'll see you tomorrow, buddy."

"Damn straight, you will!"

Will chuckled again as Epps hung up the phone. Then he groaned; so much for a secret. There was no way he could get out of telling his friend; there was also no way Epps would be able to keep it on the D.L. The entire freaking base would know by the end of tomorrow.

"Scrap," Will muttered, shaking his head.

* * *

><p>If you at all whatsoever enjoy this fic, PLEAAAASSEEEEE review! I'll love you! (There I go with the rhymes again)<p>

And if you hate this fic, tell me why, so I can improve.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi! So, this chapter is a bit slow, but I feel like this story was moving a bit fast. Idk what's gonna happen to this beast, how long it's gonna get, hell, I don't even have a plot in mind (I shouldn't be telling my readers this...) But if you're actually still with me, I promise that I will work out the plans for this bad boy. I'm no JKR, but I'll try to come up with something good.

Anyways, disclaimers, blah blah blah, you know the drill. Onwards, my dear readers!

* * *

><p>The rest of the evening passed, and Ironhide didn't say a single word to Annabelle; at some point during dinner, he must have walked across the farm fields to the wooded area beyond because when she went outside to say goodnight to him like she always did, he was nowhere to be found. <p>

Annabelle could not sleep. Her mind was spinning with excitement and worry and wonder, and she just could not turn her thoughts off. The thing that her mind kept coming back to was Ironhide. He had been so quiet and upset. She couldn't understand; why was he mad at her? She didn't have any control over what she was!

Being the reasonable girl she was, she decided that he wouldn't turn her away if she were to seek him out directly; not after years of being her friend and guardian. So she did what she always does when she has trouble sleeping and went out to find him.

The little girl creeped past her parents' bedroom and down the stairs. She went quietly out the front door and saw him sitting on the grass not too far away, gazing up at the stars with his glowing blue optics.

"You should be sleeping, Annie," he said quietly, looking down at the girl as she cautiously approached him.

"What's wrong?" he asked frowning, looking around and subconsciously spinning out up his cannons with a soft whirring noise.

"'Hide."

He looked down at his young charge where she had stopped a few feet away from him, the soft breeze moving her yellow nightgown and making her shiver slightly.

"Yes, Annabelle?"

"Why are you mad at me?" She looked hurt as she frowned up at him. "What'd I do wrong?"

Ironhide stared at her for a moment, surprised, before he lifted up one servo and held it in front of her as an offering, like he had done countless times before. Unhesitatingly, Annabelle crawled onto the offered hand. He brought her to his lap, as she settled herself down, sitting cross-legged.

"Belle," he said, frowning down at her, "I'm not angry. Not at you. I'm just..." he paused turning his gaze out towards the horizon. "I'm worried. I don't know how we could have missed something so big. How am I supposed to keep you safe when I don't know what's happening to you?" Here was the reason he hadn't been recharging; he felt as though he was being a terrible protector. How could he protect her from something he didn't understand? From something he couldn't see? Decepticons he could handle; that was familiar ground. But something unseen? Something coming from within Annabelle?

"'Hide!" Annabelle grinned up at him in exasperated relief. "I don't need protecting from this. I'm magical! You don't need to worry. Besides, like Mommy said, maybe the reason you and Doctor Ratchet didn't see anything is 'cause your scans just don't work on this sorta stuff."

He sighed, looking down at her again.

"Alright...Annie, you should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow," he said with a grimace, thinking of the mayhem that was to come. He lay back, moving his hand to bring Annabelle to his chest, where she crawled onto the warm metal above his spark, snuggling into him. He curled his hand above her small body protectively, offlining his optics, running one last scan of the property. Annabelle smiled a little bit as she sighed happily at being in the familiar position.

Nothing needed to be said as the pair drifted off into sleep (or recharge, in Ironhide's case). 

Early the next morning, Sarah walked into her daughter's bedroom to wake her up; the drive to NEST's base would take a few hours, so they needed to get moving. Upon entering, Sarah discovered that Annabelle's bed was vacant. Sarah smiled to herself as she turned around and headed downstairs to where she knew her daughter was sleeping safely.

Ironhide was standing towards one edge of the Lennox family farm, scanning the entire area for any potential hazards. His servos were cradled up to his chest, gently holding Annabelle as she slept peacefully. He turned his gaze down to the girl as she moved a bit in her sleep. He couldn't stop a small smile from spreading across his face.

Despite outward appearances, he wasn't all about fighting. Of course, he loved handing decepticons their afts and blowing shit up, but when he had been together with Chromia eons ago, they had dreamed of having sparklings. He had figured that the excitement and rewards of being a father could easily take the place of the excitement of battle. His mate had felt the same way, but both of them never did anything because it went unspoken that there was no way they would ever bring a sparkling into the middle of this war; to do so would've been far too cruel.

But now...there was Annabelle. Optimus had given him the task of watching over the family of his human contact, Will. At first, he had strongly objected; he should be fighting! Not babysitting a bunch of fleshlings! Optimus had been adamant, though, and Will had been so glad that his new friend and comrade was staying; 'Hide was left with no choice. Surprisingly, Ironhide was quickly fascinated by the family. In particular, the baby femme who had gazed up at him with wide blue eyes was entrancing. For some reason, she had found the fact that he was a giant alien robot entirely unremarkable; she just grew up used to having Cybertronians around. When she had begun talking, not long after Ironhide had first arrived, one of her first words was "'Hide." He had been surprised at the odd warmth and glow that emanated from his spark upon hearing her shriek out his name in joy. He came to realize that that swelling warmth was pride; he was proud of her for learning to speak, and he was proud that she had grown so attached to him. At first, Ironhide had been an excellent guardian because it was his job, and he refused to fail any task Optimus gave him. All too soon, though, he was an excellent guardian because he cared. He had become invested in this little alien family, and Annabelle was like the sparkling he'd never been able to have. Caring for her, playing with her, and protecting her were endlessly rewarding, as were his friendships with her creators, Will and Sarah.

Ironhide snorted to himself as he glanced back up at the rising sun; he was definitely becoming soft in his old age. Suddenly, he turned as he heard Sarah coming down the driveway towards them.

"Hey, there, 'Hide," she smiled at him. "We'd better get Annie up so we can get going soon."

Ironhide nodded, and then resorted to his favorite tactic for waking Annabelle up.

*poke.*

One large finger poked her stomach.

*poke.*

The little girl rolled a bit in her sleep, murmuring discontentedly. Sarah stifled a laugh with one hand.

*poke.*

*poke.* *poke.* *poke.* *pokepokepokepoke...*

"'Hiiiiiiiidddeeeee!" Annabelle whined as she squirmed away from him. He poked her one last time in the ribs, eliciting a squeal from her.

"Good morning, Honey!" Sarah called up to her.

"'Dunno what's so good about being woken by this mean old robot."

"Who you callin' old, huh?" Ironhide growled as he lowered her down to her mother. The girl staggered off of his palm, still clumsy from sleep.

"Fight later. Daddy's making French toast for breakfast."

That woke the nine-year-old up immediately. She sprinted off with an excited squeal.

"You humans are entirely too obsessed with your nourishment," Ironhide observed.

"You only say that because you haven't tried Will's French toast," Sarah said with a grin, as she headed back to the house. Ironhide just shook his head in response before folding down into his alt mode and letting Optimus know that they would be en route shortly.

* * *

><p>Reviews? :3<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Guess who updated? ME! Enjoy, my friends.

* * *

><p>"When there's a smile in your heart, there's no better time to start!<br>Think of all the joy you'll find when you leave the world behind and bid your cares good byyyyye!  
>You can fly!<br>You can fly!  
>You can fly!<br>You can flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Annabelle sang loudly and happily along with one of her favorite Disney songs from one of her favorite Disney movies (although Peter Pan had nothing on The Lion King or The Sword in the Stone, in her opinion).

"That's it, I'm choosing what we listen to from now on," Ironhide groaned.

Annabelle ignored his grumbling, but she thankfully didn't complain when he turned off the music.

"'Hide, d'ya think I'll be able to fly better when I go to wizard school? Or wait...will there be pixies? Or fairies? Are unicorns or dragons real?" Annabelle was, unsurprisingly, bouncing in excitement and talking almost too quickly to comprehend; not only was she a happy-go-lucky nine-year-old, but she also was about to see her favorite giant alien robots. And she just so happened to be a witch. The girl was a bundle of excitement through the entire car ride, singing and talking and dancing and squirming so fast she was just a blur of motion. She sat in her usual seat in the back of Ironhide as the Lennox family sped down the interstate towards base. The family didn't need to be at home until their scheduled meeting with Mr. Tompkins in exactly a week, so they planned on spending a few days at base. Ironhide's truck bed held the duffel bags full of the family's necessities.

"Annie, 'Hide doesn't know any more than you do, sweetie," Sarah answered her daughter as she glanced back at her from where she sat in the front seat; Will took shotgun this time.

"I know Mommy, I'm just asking! 'Cause if some stuff from fairy tales is real, doesn't that mean other stuff could be real too?"

"Anything's possible; we won't have any answers until we meet Mr. Tompkins next week, though," her father responded.

Annabelle just nodded, looking out the window for a moment. Then she grinned.

"Let's listen to The Lion King now!"

Ironhide moaned.

"Pleeeaase?" Annabelle looked beseechingly towards the dashboard. "I really love it! It'd make the ride go faster, 'Hide!"

There was a moment of silence before the Autobot caved.

"I get to pick what we listen to on the way home, though!" Ironhide yelled over the wailing singing at the beginning of "The Circle of Life." 

Annabelle sprinted into the med bay, way ahead of her family, the rest of whom had opted to walk.

"Hiiiiiii! Hi! Hi, Doctor Ratchet! Hey! Guess what! Guess what happened! Guess what we found out!"

Ratchet spent a moment silently mourning the loss of the peace and quiet that had filled his med bay for the past week (well, aside from having to piece together Wheeljack and the twins after a failed prank and a bizarre experiment combined together to blow up half the base; needless to say, Prime, Ratchet, and the humans in charge had not been pleased.)

"Good afternoon, Annabelle. What is it that you'd like to tell me?" Ratchet answered as he put down the spare parts he'd been tinkering with and turned to look at the bouncy little girl.

"Whoa, hold up there, Annie," Ironhide interrupted as he entered the large hanger, followed by Will and Sarah. "I gotta show Ratch' the files before you say anything; Optimus and I decided that it's the best way to break the news."

"What exactly are you talking about? What is it that you've discovered? Is this anything to do with Annabelle's bizarre condition? Why did-"

"Chill out, Ratchet," Will said with a grin. "Just let 'Hide show you everything."

"This should be fun," Will muttered to Sarah with a grin as Ironhide sent out a data burst of his recordings of the meeting with Mr. Tompkins. Ratchet sat on a nearby berth as he received and processed the data. After a couple of minutes, his optics suddenly went dark and he slumped over. His mouth was hanging open, and he looked rather ridiculous.

"Hey, Hatch'? You 'kay?" Annabelle cautiously approached the berth upon which the motionless medic sat.

Ironhide silently stared for a moment before suddenly roaring with laughter. The humans all jumped about a foot in the air in shock.

"Ironhide! What-" Sarah began.

"He crashed his fraggin' CPU!" Ironhide managed to chortle out. "He just CRASHED! It was too much for Hatchet to handle, so his CPU just GAVE OUT!" The black mech continued to laugh loudly until his head was suddenly hit with a large wrench.

"OW! What the slag, Hatchet?" Ironhide cried, rubbing the top of his head gingerly, looking at the angry medic who had apparently managed to reboot his failed systems.

"My. Name. Is. RATCHET." He waved another wrench threateningly in the air.

"Frag it, I ain't calling you your name if you throw slag at me!" 'Hide yelled back.

"OH REALLY?" Ratchet leapt up from the berth.

"YEAH! Just because your CPU crashed, you old-timer, doesn't mean you can ATTACK ME!"

"YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME, YOU GLITCH-HEAD!"

"Y'know what, HATCHET? I'll give you your wrench back right now!" He raised the tool that had hit him threateningly. "AND A FOLLOW-UP WITH MY CANNONS WOULD BE NICE, HUH?"

"BOYS! STOP IT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Sarah's loud, sharp yell drowned out both Autobots and caused them to freeze. Annabelle and her dad were standing together, clutching each other and wheezing with laughter. "And you two!" She turned her glare towards them. "Do NOT encourage them!"

She then looked at the sheepish Autobots. "Ironhide! Ratchet! You both should be ashamed of yourselves! You're acting like children! Like sparklings! Ironhide, you did not react well at first either! And Ratchet, don't you sink down to 'Hide's level! And you'd BOTH better watch your language and watch where you throw those wrenches!" Her hands were on her hips, one hip was cocked, and she was leaning slightly forward in a very intimidating fashion.

"Daaaang, man! Now I know why you so whipped!" Epps had come into the med bay during Sarah's rant, and he snorted as he clapped Will on the shoulder.

"Bobby, don't you even start with me," Sarah turned to him.

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Lennox," Epps grinned at her. The corners of her mouth twitched.

"Well, I would like to find some more mature company," Sarah smirked as she stalked towards the door. "And it's been too long since I last got to talk to Arcee!"

* * *

><p>PWEASE REVIEW (gwilled cheez anybody? anyone? remember? no?)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everybody. So, sorry this chapter's a little shorter than the others, but I just want to update anyways. Also, I'm stuck in the pediatrics ward of the hospital with limited interwebs access, so sorry if I don't update super often.

Disclaimer, anything you recognize isn't mine, you know how it goes...

* * *

><p>Arcee grinned at the female human that was seated in the shade next to her.<p>

"It's not often that someone makes ol' Ratchet feel ashamed; usually, Optimus is the only one who can control him. Same with 'Hide."

"Well, somebody has to keep those two in check. Honestly, I've never met anyone as temperamental and stubborn as them," Sarah shook her head.

"I dunno, Sarah, you can be pretty stubborn," Arcee laughed at Sarah's scowl.

"Hmph. I blame Will," Sarah worked to keep from smiling.

"You two are just too perfect for each other."

At this, Sarah smiled and gave a dreamy sigh. Her smile turned to a slight grimace upon hearing Arcee's next words.

"So why do you keep bringing Annie to see Ratch'? I know something's happening, Sarah. You can tell me; you can trust me."

"Scrap," Sarah sighed, putting her head into her hands. This was one explanation she wasn't getting out of. 

"Alright, man," Epps looked over the table of the empty break room at his closest friend. "Spill."

Will looked at him levelly for a moment before starting, "Epps. Bobby. Look, I'm gonna tell you all I can, but I'm dead serious. This has to remain quiet. Treat it like knowing about the Autobots; don't talk about it with anyone that isn't involved. I hate to do this, bro, but no telling the other guys."

"Oh, c'mon Lennox!" Epps threw up his hands in exasperation. "You already trust them with yo' life AND the goddamn alien robots! What's one more thing? Are you telling me you don't trust us guys on base? You don't trust Fig? Peters? Joey?"

"Epps! Don't be frigging ridiculous! You know I trust those guys with almost anything! This shit with Annie, though...this stuff is different. It ain't my secret to tell. I'm not even supposed to be telling you, but you're like family. You are family, so I have to tell you."

"AWWWW..." Epps grinned as Will smacked him.

"So. Do you agree to keep it quiet? 'Cause that's the only way I'm telling you."

"You have my word, Will."

Will sighed and took a deep breath in preparation before launching into his explanation. 

"Sammy! 'Kaela!" Annabelle sprinted to the young couple, both of whom beamed at Captain Lennox's daughter.

"You're practically as tall as me!" Sam declared. "Jesus, what're they feeding you?"

"Being taller than you isn't that great of a feat," Mikaela grinned at her boyfriend.

"Hey, hey, enough with the short jokes."

"Ima call you my shawty  
>Cause I can't stand to see you treated bad<br>I beat his ass for my shawty," Bumblebee danced around the corner, pointing at Sam.

"Aw, man, c'mon, not you too," Sam groaned. "And hey, watch the language, there are children present!" He hissed, pointing at Annabelle.

Bee turned to her, hanging his head a little bit and Feist sang, "I'm sorry!"

"Pssshhh," Annabelle rolled her eyes, "I've heard way worse slag!"

Bumblebee made an indignant squawk, and Sam laughed.

"Ugghh, 'Hide needs to watch his mouth," Mikaela shook her head.

"I'm sure that Ratchet's responsible too," Sam grinned. "Speaking of which, Annabelle," Sam looked at her, "Why're you guys here to see Ratchet again? I mean, it's cool to see you guys, but weren't you just on base last week? And Sides mentioned something about your mom blowing her gasket at 'Hide and Ratch' this morning?"

Bee nodded and came in with "You've got secrets too  
>I don't know what more to ask for...<br>And I'm on my knees looking for the answer."

Annabelle fidgeted and looked around, biting her lip, unsure of what to do.

"Annie?" Mikaela was frowning concernedly. "Is something wrong? You can tell us what's up; we won't tell anyone."

"I think you already know  
>How far I'd go not to say<br>You know the art is gone  
>And I'm taking this all to the grave"<p>

"I know, 'Bee. 'Kaela, nothing's wrong, I'm just not really supposed to tell anyone."

Now they were curious. Especially Sam. His curiosity had gotten him into trouble before, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself.

"C'mon, Annie, you can tell us. We know about the Autobots just like you, and we haven't told anyone," Sam wheedled.

She still looked uncertain.

"And what about your involvement in a recent incident involving our tactician, some neon paint, and a pair of twins who spent a day in the brig?" Mikaela finally resorted to blackmail. "Does your mom know about that?"

"Don't tell!" Annabelle squeaked. "She won't let me play with Sunny and Sides anymore!"

"What about us?" the twins strolled in.

"C'mon Annie, you can tell us." Sam looked serious as he knelt before her, ignoring the twins.

"You guys can't tell ANYONE." Annabelle declared fiercely.

Sides started to say something, but Bee smacked him before he could interrupt Annabelle. At the prospect of telling her friends the exciting news, Annabelle's eyes lit up as she started bouncing and began to talk a mile a minute.

* * *

><p>Review and I'll love you forever :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Fair warning: I've gotten you all used to having pretty frequent updates, but once school starts in a couple of weeks, idk how often I'm going to be able to update. I'm only taking like 3 1/2 classes, but it's going to be pretty overwhelming because I'm a baby, so I'm just starting college. Anyways, I'll try to spoil you all as much as I can before school. So here's another update.

Also, PLEAAAASE REVIEW! There are a couple of wonderful loyal reviewers, but it'd really mean the world to me if all of you other readers would take a few seconds to give me some feedback. But I love you anyways if you're even reading this slag.

Disclaimer: don't own

* * *

><p>"William. Sarah. Annabelle," Optimus tried to calm the family down, "please cease your arguing."<p>

Given that Optimus had never seen any of the Lennoxes so fired up at each other before, he was a little thrown off. Therefore, his orders weren't at all commanding and were easily drowned out by the three humans.

"What do you mean they JUST WALKED IN?" Sarah cried to her daughter. "YOU KNOW THOSE TWINS CAN'T KEEP ANYTHING QUIET!"

"They're my FRIENDS!" Annabelle shrieked and stomped her foot.

"And YOU!" Sarah turned to her husband. "Bobby has NOTHING to do with this! There's no reason for him to know!"

"Well, why in the HELL should Arcee know, then?" Will angrily retorted.

"ENOOUUGH!" Ratchet drowned out their fighting with a mighty roar.

The family froze and looked at each other guiltily for a moment.

"Frag it, you had better never argue like that again in my presence," Ratchet rubbed his servo over his face with a groan.

"Alright," Optimus said firmly, taking charge once again, "We will make a complete list of everyone who is currently aware of Annabelle's abilities. Then I shall summon a meeting with all of them to discuss the sensitivity of the information. While we are waiting for everyone to gather in my office, we will remain here in the med bay to go over the list and ensure that no one else needs to be informed of this information."

"Annabelle, list off everyone you told," he said to the little girl.

"Sam, Mikaela, 'Bee, Sunny, and Sides."

"Captain?" Optimus turned to Will as Ratchet wrote the names on a board hanging on the wall.

"Epps," Will responded promptly.

Optimus turned his gaze to Sarah, who said, "I only told one person...er, bot...Arcee."

"I will send a comm link to the Autobots involved," Optimus said as he stood up. "Ratchet, if you would, please gather the necessary humans."

With a sigh and a grimace, Ratchet set out.

"Too many people know," Will said, shaking his head.

"Well, it's too late to do anything about that now," Sarah put a placating hand on his shoulder.

"What we can do," Optimus said resolutely, "is ensure that this information is protected. For the safety of your family and of all witches and wizards, we must keep this quiet." 

"Oi, doc bot, what the slag have you got us all here for?" Sunny asked from where he was sprawled across a very large chair in Optimus's office.

Ratchet just scowled at him.

"You got the comm link from Prime," Ironhide said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. "He'll explain when he gets here."

"And when's that gonna be?" Sideswipe sounded petulant and child-like.

"Who knoooows, who caaaaaares?" Bumblebee sang.

Sam and Mikaela sat on his shoulders, one of either side.

"Seriously, you guys just need to chill," Sam rolled his eyes.

"Hey, fleshy," Sunny frowned, "can it."

"Let it be, let it be,  
>Let it be, let it be!<br>Whisper words of wisdom, let it be!"

"Who, me or sunshine over there?" Sam asked his guardian.

"Uhhh, how about both of you?" Mikaela grinned.

Sunny and Sam both opened their mouths to retort, but the door swung open, cutting them off. In came Optimus, with the Lennox family seated upon his hands. He lowered them gently to the top of his desk, where Epps was sitting.

"We have important matters that we must discuss. It is imperative that the content of this meeting be kept secret from everyone not in this room. Is that clear?" Optimus looked at everyone gravely from behind his desk.

Everyone nodded in assent, as most of the room's occupants realized what the meeting was about.

"Yesterday, all of you were made aware of a situation with Annabelle Lennox. She is, indeed, a witch."

"Sir! How in the pit do you believe all this slag?" Sides sounded baffled.

"LANGUAGE, Sideswipe," Sarah reminded the bot.

"You STILL don't believe me!" Annabelle was exasperated and a little bit insulted.

"Prime."

"Yes, Ironhide?"

"Can I just show them the information about Mr. Tompkins?"

"Affirmative, Ironhide."

There was a pause in the room as Arcee, Bumblebee, Sunny, and Sides all received the recordings.

"Oi, what about us humans?" Epps called.

"Bobby, ya gotta be kidding me," Will rolled his eyes. "Look around the room. What do you see?"

"A buncha giant goddamn aliens."

"Exactly."

"I ain't followin'."

"This...they," Lennox gestured to the Autobots, "are UNBELIEVABLE. You wouldn't believe in these guys if you hadn't seen them, fought with them, talked to them...We didn't even believe what we were seeing with that damn scorpion in Qatar-"

"LANGUAGE, dear."

"Right. That...darned scorpion."

Epps looked at his friend for a few moments. "Look. Will, my man. I wish I could believe ya, but how d'ya know this ain't some Decepticon trick?"

"Robert Epps," Ironhide answered him, "would I be mistaken? Would all of us bots be unable to detect some filthy slaggin' Decepticon?"

"Sergeant Epps," Optimus cut in this time, "if there were some way you could receive and process Ironhide's recordings of the meeting with Mr. Tompkins, I assure you that you would believe it. I understand that it might be difficult for you to believe in something unfathomable and unknown, but it is not surprising to beings as old as us; we have learned that anything is possible."

"Look, man, I dunno..." Epps just shook his head.

"This HAS to be some Decepticon trick!" Sunny declared hotly.

"Yeah, we should have Hound and Wheeljack process the recordings to see if there's any way this human could have been bugged," Sides agreed with his brother.

"Are you two implying that I would miss something as significant as a cloaking device?" Ratchet sounded positively dangerous.

"SLAGGIT!" Annabelle finally shrieked. "Here!" She sprinted to the edge of Optimus's large desk and threw herself off. There was a chorus of gasps and outcries. Although it went against his every instinct, 'Hide moved forward and grabbed the twins to prevent them from leaping to Annabelle's rescue.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the scowling little girl flew off the desk. Her face transformed to an expression of excitement and joy as she soared upwards and across the room towards Bumblebee. Her arms reached out and she was gently caught by Mikaela as she landed on 'Bee's shoulder. Bumblebee chirped softly in question at Annie, who was giggling and slightly out of breath.

"That. Was. WICKED!" She grinned out at everyone.

"I'll say!" Sideswipe moved out from Ironhide's grip and laughed.

"In the future, kiddo, please avoid scaring us all sparkless," Arcee looked relieved.

"I'll say," Ratchet muttered, "Primus..."

"Well, now that that's all cleared up," Will grinned and couldn't stop the swelling of pride at his daughter's gutsiness. He subtly wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, now that the nervousness had passed.

"If there are no more objections or questions, I'd like to continue this meeting," Optimus said, seemingly unfazed (as always). "This is no Decepticon trick, but our main task now is ensuring that it remains that way. This information...the existence of these magical beings MUST remain out of the hands of the decepticons. This means that absolutely NO ONE outside of this room can know of Annabelle's abilities. There is no way I can stress the importance of the secrecy of these matters enough. All I can say is that if any of you value the safety of this planet, and of the Lennox family, then do not speak of Annabelle's abilities. Though we do not yet know what impact, if any, this secret world will have on our war, we must avoid the possibility of further complicating matters and endangering more innocent beings."

"Why the slag can't we tell the other Autobots?" Sides asked.

"Sideswipe," Arcee stepped forwards, "You know the 'cons have ways of intercepting our communications. The more we talk about Annie, the more likely it is that some creep like Soundwave will pick up on it. Especially with his little cassettes running around, we can never be too careful. If you care about Annabelle, then prove it by keeping your mouth shut."

"Alright, alright, 'Cee. Sorry, I was just wondering," Sides raised his hands defensively.

:Sir: Bumblebee commed on an open line so the bots could all hear.

:Yes, Bumblebee?:

:How will her powers affect us? Do you know if magic can be used as a weapon against us?:

"A valid question, soldier," Optimus said out loud. "Bumblebee has asked what affect, if any, magic could have on us Cybertronians."

"Uhh, we heard what he said," Sunny gave Optimus a strange look.

"AHEM," Epps looked pointedly at the bot. "Not all of us speak robot."

"It's called Cybertronian, fleshy, and it ain't my fault if you're too slaggin' primitive to understand us."

"Oi, enough with the human hate, sunshine," Sam called.

"Be NICE, Sunny," Annabelle fiercely commanded.

"Er, right. Sorry, kid."

The other bots smirked at his sheepish reaction; for some reason, the little human femme was the one person who could whip Sunstreaker into submission and make him behave.

"As I was saying," Optimus sounded amused at the interruption, "I do not yet know how magic interacts with our anatomy, and I believe it would be best for us to not find out so long as the information about the existence of magic remains among the Autobots alone."

"If necessary, we can work on figuring out if it has any affect after Annabelle has completed more schooling, right?" Sides asked.

"She will NOT," 'Hide growled, "be used as your Guinea pig."

"Ironhide is correct, Sideswipe," Optimus nodded, "If the time comes when it becomes necessary that we learn more about wizarding powers, we should go to the President of the United States."

"But...Obama doesn't know, does he?" Will said.

"We can look into matters further if the time comes, but given that the president is one of the few people who are aware of our presence on your planet, it seems likely that he would be aware of this information. If not, we shall go to the Wizarding President."

"And how the hell we gonna find him?" Epps asked.

"Does it really matter right now?" Sarah responded "As time goes on, Will, Annie, and I will learn more about navigating the wizarding world, and at this point, all talk of the Autobots and NEST dealing with wizards is purely hypothetical. It's getting late now, anyways."

"Sarah is correct. For now, this meeting is adjourned," Optimus concluded with a nod, as everyone filed out of his office.

Soon, only Optimus and Ratchet remained.

"Do you really think we can keep this information out of the hands of the decepticons?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus sighed as he stood up. "We can only do our best for the time being and make sure we are prepared if the time ever comes when the magical beings of this planet become involved in our war."

Ratchet snorted as he followed Optimus out of his office. "Besides, even if those damn 'cons ever do find out, they aren't likely to think it's all that big of a deal; they underestimate the abilities of other life forms. I do not see how this will be any different."

"Yes," Optimus smiled as they walked outside into the balmy night, "that is what I am counting on as well."

* * *

><p>PRETTY PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK. Even if you're just criticizing me, I want to know what you think! (although there's a possibility I'll cry myself to sleep over it...jklolz, not really...well, it depends how mean you are)<p>

REVIEW :3


	9. Chapter 9

So, I just need to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed. YOU ALL MAKE ME SO HAPPY. The only reason I've been writing so much lately is that wonderful reviews just make me want to write :)

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

><p>After spending a few more days on base, which were full of both mischief (Annabelle) and business (Will), the Lennoxes arrived at home after a car ride during which Annie managed to unsurprisingly get her way; they jammed out to Disney the whole way home.<p>

Wednesday morning, the songs still seemed to be echoing through 'Hide's aching processor.

"Annie, honey, you gotta get some real clothes on," Will said to his daughter who was still lounging around in her PJs. He turned to his wife, "What time's the wizard gonna be here exactly?"

"He didn't say a specific time, so we should just be prepared for him at any time," Sarah finished wiping down the kitchen counters, tossing the rag in the sink.

"Hun, this guy doesn't seem like the type to really notice things like dusty counters...Actually, if I didn't know better, I'd think the guy was homeless or something."

"Will! I want our house clean because we LIVE HERE! Besides, there's nothing wrong with being polite." Sarah rolled her eyes at Will as she walked past him and outside onto the porch.

"Heya, 'Hide," she smiled at the big Topkick sitting to the side of the porch on the dusty gravel driveway.

"Sarah," he sounded rather grumpy.

"Sorry you can't get up and stretch your legs out right now, big guy, but you're free as soon as Mr. Tompkins leaves."

The truck sagged a little bit in what seemed to be a sigh. "I know. I am fine. I can run perimeter scans fine in this form... speaking of which, Mr. Tompkins just...appeared...?" 'Hide sounded quite baffled.

Sarah looked down the driveway to see the small man approaching. He was wearing the exact same suit and had the same briefcase. The only difference was that his hair was impossibly even more askance than last time.

"Good morning, Mr. Tompkins!" Sarah smiled warmly. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Good morning, it's lovely to see you as well, Mrs. Lennox." He stumbled a bit coming up the steps. Sarah thought she heard Ironhide give a small snort, and she glared at the truck.

Soon, the Lennoxes and Mr. Tompkins were all seated in the living room.

"So today, I will be telling you a bit more about how the wizarding community functions. Then you can ask any questions you might have, and I'll leave you with a bit of homework until our meeting next week. Is that all alright with you?" Mr. Tompkins asked the family.

They all nodded. Annabelle was wriggling from side to side, her face lit up with excitement. Sarah and Will were now starting to get quite interested and a little excited as well. Who wouldn't find learning about real live wizards fascinating? It was almost as good as learning all about the Cybertronians. Almost.

"Unsurprisingly, wizarding society functions much like any other society. Countries are divided up and governed by officials, who obtain their status and power in a variety of ways, much like Muggle world leaders. In America, we have The Wizarding President and the American Council of Magic, which functions much like a parliament or congress of some form. Only, they have much more to handle and deal with than most nonmagical governments. There are various departments and divisions of the Council in charge of dealing with everything from sports and recreation to magical creatures to the study of theoretical magic."

Outside, Ironhide was listening avidly, sending his recordings live to Optimus and Ratchet. The three Autobots were still and silent as they listened to the information the wizard was providing. They, too, were quite curious and eager to learn more about this world. In truth, Ratchet was disappointed that the man wasn't talking about MAGIC. What the slag was this unseen force? How did it work? What was it made of? Why did some humans possess it while others didn't? The slag the man was discussing right now, though, was stuff Ratchet could've easily figured out himself.

"We have a banking system run by goblins-"

"GOBLINS!" Annabelle was leaning forwards earnestly. "What're they like? What do they do? What do they look like?"

Mr. Tompkins smiled at her enthusiasm, before saying, "They're highly intelligent creatures. Very sly and cunning. They look rather similar to humans, but they are much shorter, and they have rather pointed ears and teeth. They deal with money mostly. They also create things; magnificent blacksmiths, or metal-crafters, they are. They are magical, but they do not possess the same power and status as wizards and witches do."

Optimus shook his head. Even more sentient beings on this planet? Primus, how could they have missed something so huge?

"One thing wizards have, surprisingly enough, is an international form of currency. Almost everything is bought with coins." He reached into his briefcase and pulled out three coins of varying sizes. "This is the money we use; a galleon, a sickle, and a knut," he said as he pointed to the respective coins. "When we venture into the wizarding communities later on, you can easily have your Muggle money converted into wizarding money."

Mr. Tompkins went on to explain in more detail how America's governing officials were selected. By the time he had finished describing the Council's wide variety of functions, it was almost noon.

"Mr. Tompkins, would you like to join us for lunch?" Sarah asked when he paused in his explanations.

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Mrs. Lennox."

Annabelle was, for once, not bored with hearing about politics and government. It was magical, so it was awesome!

After Sarah got together some soup, sandwiches, and lemonade, the group moved to the kitchen and started eating. While they ate, Mr. Tompkins went on to describe what wizards and witches do in life.

"There are trained healers. The equivalent of your Muggle doctors and such. They handle any sort of injuries or sicknesses or health issues. There are three healing centers, which are like hospitals, in America. There are wizards and witches who teach and tutor magical children. Some people work with the goblins in the banking system. There are entrepreneurs, government workers, law enforcers...anything you'd expect in an American society. There's crime, discord, war, poverty, evil."

"There are bad wizards too?" Annabelle sounded rather put out.

"Honey," Will responded, "in every species and race with free will, there is, and always will be, some sort of evil or darkness. No matter what someone can do, or what powers they possess, they will always be flawed. And sometimes, people will turn the wrong way, towards evil. They make the wrong choices. But you have to understand, it's not all black and white; most beings are just gray. They possess the potential for both good and evil. Most people can be both killers and saints, if they are put in a certain situation. It may seem harsh, and it is. There is evil everywhere. The best you can do is to keep things from being forcibly divided. Because in situations where there are two sides, what you most often end up with is two sides that are full of ambiguous people, who are put in a situation that may make them seem evil or extreme. When I go off with my comrades to fight, the people we fight, and sometimes kill, are just people. Like us. They might be different ethnically or racially or religiously, but they have families and they can be kind and happy. They are unfortunately our enemies in war, but if we were to just meet each other on the street, we might be friends. And, I mean, I'm just talking about most instances and most people. There are unfortunately some people out there who are truly bad. There are beings who are messed up and are actually evil. What we need to do is fight those people who are evil and try to join up with all the other ambiguous people like ourselves. And even if you can do magic, even if you're a witch, a goblin, a hobbit, or an alien," Will quirked his lips a little bit, "you can be truly evil, or you can be led astray and do things that are evil."

Everyone, human and Autobot alike, was dead silent for a good minute. It seemed to stretch on forever, as everyone was taking in what Will had said.

"What? Do I have something on my face, or...?" Will glanced around nervously.

Suddenly, Sarah leaned forward and kissed him soundly and passionately on the lips. Will made a strangled noise in his throat, and Mr. Tompkins politely examined the ceiling.

"AWWW, COME ON! GROSS!" Annabelle wailed in despair.

So Sarah leaned over and kissed her daughter wetly on the cheek.

* * *

><p>REVIEW AND I'LL WRITE MORE!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Gueeesss who updated? Sorry it feels like it's been forever since I updated. Also: I'm too socially inept to talk to everyone who reviews individually, but I FUCKING LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. SERIOUSLY. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING. YOU MAKE ME SOOOO HAPPY :D

Anyways, now that I'm over my first case of writers' block, I think I've got enough stuff in mind to propel this bad boy for the next few chapters, so hopefully I can update a few more times in the next week.

Dislaimer: Yeah, yeah, you all know what's up...

* * *

><p>"'The first wizarding president, Josiah Oglethorpe, was elected by default in 1739, when the only other wizard in America tragically died from a combination of spattergroit and spoiled pork chops—'"<p>

"Spatter-_what_?" Will interrupted his wife as she read out of "A Mostly Complete History of Wizarding America."

"Spattergroit…don't ask me because I have no idea what it is either," she shook her head.

Annabelle yawned from where she sat on Ironhide's shoulder. "Didn't he leave ANY other books? This one is too _boring_!"

"Hmm…me and Ratch' can't find anything on that…_spattergroit_…either," Ironhide grumbled before shrugging his unoccupied shoulder.

Ratchet was frustrated. Big surprise. Ironhide was comming what Sarah was reading to Ratchet so he could learn more (Optimus was currently in yet another meeting with diplomatic American muggle liaisons, so he wasn't listening.) And Ratchet wanted…_needed_…answers he didn't have. Why wasn't there any electronic data on wizards anywhere? Did they have to make it so fraggin' difficult for the Autobots to learn anything?

"'Then, in 1775, a group of one hundred wizarding rebels traveled from South Wales to America, and'…are you guys even listening?" Sarah frowned at Will, Annie, and 'Hide, all of whom were vacantly gazing around, not taking in a single word she said.

When no one even responded, Sarah groaned and slammed the book shut before throwing it to the ground from where she sat on Ironhide's outstretched leg.

The silence seemed to rouse the rest of her family. Annie looked up from the leaf she had been methodically shredding apart, and Will hopefully raised his head.

"Are we done?" He asked with a grin.

"We're barely even halfway," Sarah scowled at him. "Honestly, Will, you have the attention span of a goldfish."

:That is wildly and utterly inaccurate,: Ratchet commed to 'Hide.

"That ain't right," Ironhide grunted. "He has the attention span of a gnat."

:There we go: Ratchet smirked to himself. :Ratchet out.:

:Later, Hatch'. Ironhide out.:

Sarah snorted and leapt down onto the grass. She stretched out with a groan, taking note of the setting sun.

Cue loudly rumbling stomachs from both Annabelle and Will.

"Mommy, I'm—"

"I know, me too, sweetie. How's frozen pizza sound?" Sarah answered as she walked towards the house.

"Pepperoni?" Will asked hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do," she grinned as she went in the back door.

"Prime. Why have we not had any word on Decepticon movements? When is your little team going to get their act together? Need I remind you that we are allowing you to stay on _our _planet on the conditions that you work on getting rid of the remaining Decepticons?" Alan Dicker, the liaison between the Pentagon and the Autobots (who had been handpicked by someone who had apparently never met the Autobots, or this asshole, for that matter) sounded pissed and snobbish.

It took every ounce of Optimus's will to not just walk out of the room. He couldn't hold back a bit of a twitch. Joey Costanzo and John Peters, two members of Lennox's NEST team and pseudo-diplomats, glanced at each other, barely able to hold back grins. They had been around the Autobot leader enough to know that, although he appeared mostly calm, the look in his optics promised death.

Prowl, the only other Autobot in attendance, remained silent and expressionless, although it was likely that he was inwardly seething; this Dicker guy had been at it for over an hour. Who wouldn't be ticked?

" As I have said, Mr. Dicker, the Autobots have been deploying advanced surveillance tactics, but there is nothing that can be done because the Decepticons are not planning," Optimus replied. "Since their leader's death, they have devolved into mild chaos, while a power struggle ensues. When they do begin to communicate further than just inward bickering, we shall know, and we will act."

"Alright, this meeting's adjourned," Keller grimaced. After most people had filed out of the large hangar, he walked over to Optimus. "Sorry about that," he sighed.

"It is understandable, Mr. Keller, and you do not need to apologize. It is not your fault." In the years since the Autobots had arrived, Keller had retired from his post as Secretary of Defense, and he now worked exclusively with the Autobots. He was the leader of NEST and the Autobots' primary diplomat to humanity. Unfortunately, after he had left, the Pentagon had decided that he wasn't good enough to keep tabs on the Autobots. So they sent in Galloway. Who was sent packing by Will. So they sent in Dicker.

"You know what I think?" Joey muttered to Peters, "It's only a matter of time before that asshole goes the same way as Galloway." Joey smirked at Peters as they walked past Optimus and Prowl.

"See ya guys later!" Joey called to the bots, waving.

Optimus smiled at them, and Prowl nodded as the men made their way outside.

Albert Tompkins was upset…no…he was _furious_. It took a hell of a lot to get that man angry, but he was just too disgusted by this morning's headline in the "Wizarding Times."

"_Supremacist Terrorists Attack Three Muggle-Borns and Their Families."_

"Merlin," he whispered. Six people had died. Three homes had been destroyed. One muggle was still missing. Screw his assignments for the day. He was going straight to the Council. Something had to be done.

When he arrived at the office, he was unsurprised at the chaos he encountered. He grimly, but determinedly, began shoving his way through mobs of screaming witches and wizards. He felt nauseous as he passed a group of impeccably dressed witches and wizards who had come to show their support for the blood cleansing that the terrorists were intent upon. As he worked through the vast marble lobby towards the Chief Council office, he was stopped in his tracks when a loud bang occurred and aurors suddenly surrounded the throng of distraught people on all sides. Dead silence thankfully fell upon the crowd.

Suddenly, a huge image of the Wizarding President, Virginia Jones, appeared in the air of the bright, cavernous hall. She wore prim, plain black robes, and her face was grim. It was easy to guess that she had used a glamour to hide the dark circles that were undoubtedly beneath her tired, yet hard, eyes.

"Witches and wizards of America. The Chief Council and I have been in session since the news of the attacks came to us last evening. This is the fourth week in a row in which innocent people have been murdered in cold-blood by extremists—"

There was uproar from the members of the crowd who had come to show their support for the attackers. Aurors moved into the crowd, their wands held high in a silent threat. Silence fell again almost immediately.

"These attacks are absolutely intolerable and heinous. In respect for the members of the wizarding community that were lost, we shall have ten minutes of respectful silence at noon today. Hear me now, America: these attacks will not go unpunished. The murderers will be found, and justice will be served. Our top aurors are on the case as we speak. In the meantime, a joint decision between the Chief Council and myself has created a program to protect muggle-borns in our communities across the nation. With the passing of the Muggle-Born Protection Act, we will also create thousands of new jobs. After applying and undergoing rigorous screening, a new division of witches and wizards will be hired to protect those whose lives could be in danger. Over the next weeks, the details of this new program will be worked out, and a new division will be added on to the American Council of Magic: The Magical Protection Agency."

* * *

><p>Review please! Nothing makes me squee like getting a new review!<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Fair warning: life is starting to get busy. And I'm not super thrilled with this chapter. I'll include more silliness with the Autobots soon! Anyways, I love you reviewers, sorry I'm too cowardly to respond to all of you.

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

><p>"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox, I want to warn you that what I am about to tell you may sound alarming. I do not want you to panic…" Mr. Tompkins seemed unsure of how to continue.<p>

"It takes a hell of a lot to make me panic," Will grinned, and Sarah nodded in assent.

"Please continue," she prodded.

"Since the beginning of wizarding society, there have been people who are judgmental of those who are not of pure blood; in other words, those witches and wizards who are related to muggles. The idea of "pure blood" is ridiculous in this day and age, as there are no magical beings left who are completely unrelated to muggles. Somewhere, in every old wizarding family tree, someone has been related to a muggle. Yet there are many people who go around, preaching about how only those of pure magical blood are real wizards and witches. They claim to be the only ones worthy of practicing magic. Thankfully, pureblood elitists are not as common nowadays. But they still exist. The pureblood mentality is much like that of any sort of discriminatory group. They are like people who discriminate based upon race, religion, gender, nationality…and like those people, there are some pureblood elitists who are extreme. They believe in waging war on muggles and muggle-borns for the good of wizarding kind. They view muggles as inferior."

"Does this mean Annie is unusual? Will she have to deal with discrimination?" Will sounded deeply troubled. He felt thankful for a moment that 'Hide and Annie were playing on the other side of the property, safely out of hearing range.

"Mr. Lennox, at this point, muggle-borns and half-bloods are far more common than purebloods. But there unfortunately is a chance that other children will judge her based upon her background. The good thing is that she is not alone. People thankfully seem to be less and less tolerant of these extremists. The main reason I'm telling you all of this, though, is to warn you about the worst of these extremists. For a while, ten to twenty years ago, things in England were very bad for muggles and muggle-borns. In fact, there was a war. The Great War. Such horrifying, drawn-out strife…so many died…"

"What does this have to do with us?" Will was frowning.

"In the past couple of months," Mr. Tompkins finally admitted, "there have been a series of deadly terrorist attacks upon muggle-borns and their families in America. There have been almost thirty deaths so far. There are many muggles who are still missing. Before you start to worry, though, I assure you that the Chief Council and the president are doing everything possible to keep people safe. A new branch of the Council was just created: The Magical Protection Agency."

Ironhide had gotten just close enough that his audial sensors could pick up the man's words. He stopped driving and said, "Just give me a minute, Belle," to his young passenger.

"For the time being, you are perfectly safe, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox. Your daughter has yet to enter the wizarding world, so hardly anyone even knows you exist. In about a month, though, we'll have an agent from the Protection Agency assigned to keeping your family and your home safe. This person will set up protective spells and will be on site daily—"

"No," Will said sternly.

"But—You must—surely _you_, Mrs. Lennox, can understand the importance of—"

"There needs to be another way. I am sorry, but we cannot accept your offer," Sarah surprised Mr. Tompkins by firmly agreeing with her husband.

"We are both perfectly capable of keeping our family safe. I am in the military. I know how to protect my own family," Will said.

"My dear Mr. Lennox, I'm sure you're perfectly capable of fighting in the muggle world, but these are wizards and witches we are talking about. You do not know what you're up against. I must insist that you accept our protection! It's for the safety of your family!" Mr. Tompkins was somewhat flustered.

Will twitched several times during the speech, and his lips thinned somewhat, but he didn't reply.

"Mr. Tompkins," Sarah said more gently. "I will be reasonable and admit that the main reason we cannot accept is because what Will does…what our family is involved in…is very sensitive, classified information. We could not risk anyone finding out about highly classified military information…the results could be catastrophic."

Will looked uncomfortable, and Mr. Tompkins just shook his head.

"Although it may be classified in the muggle world, I am sure that no one in the wizarding world would be affected by some muggle military information."

"For a freaking wizard, you're pretty damn closed-minded," Will finally burst out somewhat angrily. He ignored the affronted look on Mr. Tompkins face and went on, "You may not physically attack muggles, but you are discriminatory against them just the same."

Mr. Tompkins gasped, and Sarah tried to put a calming hand on Will's shoulder.

"Will—" Sarah began.

"No. Now you listen to me, Mr. Tompkins," Will commanded as he leapt up off the sofa. "You are dismissive of important classified information that _you_ _don't know_ _shit about_. You cannot even imagine what we are involved in. This isn't about some goddamned muggle weaponry or battle tactics. This is bigger than you could ever imagine. Before you go making assumptions, remember that there is a whole fucking lot more in this world than you see on the surface," Will then walked out of the room, into the kitchen, and out the back door. A moment later, the screen door slammed.

Mr. Tompkins looked stunned; he had never really been told off like that in his job before. He wouldn't meet Sarah Lennox's eyes.

"He should not have yelled or lost his temper, but Will was right," Sarah sighed, looking at him levelly. He raised his eyes to meet hers. She took pity on him. "Look…we cannot share the details of what we're involved in, but…I can almost guarantee that if you were to see how protected we really are here, you would not think that we need any magical protection. I know you didn't mean to offend him, but after all Will has been through…he deserves a great deal of respect and gets frustrated with all the secrets he has to keep."

"I apologize, Mrs. Lennox. I truly did not mean to offend your husband or belittle muggles in any way. My biggest concern is your safety. Just let your husband know that I am sorry. Now, before I run, I will lend you another book. Did your family find the last one interesting?"

Sarah twitched, and Mr. Tompkins chuckled.

"Yes, I honestly feel quite the same about early American history," he smiled, before opening his magical briefcase. "Now…is there anything in particular that you'd be interested in learning about next?"

"Actually…you were talking about issues in England a couple of decades ago? That sounded rather interesting. And Annie seems quite keen on learning more about magical creatures."

"Hmmmm," he plucked out a battered book titled "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: 8th Edition." He then peered into the bag, shook it around a bit, gave an "Aha!" and plunged his arm into the briefcase to snatch up a book. "Here we are."

He handed Sarah a large maroon-colored book with the image of a skull with a lightning bolt on its forehead. "The Great War" was its title.

* * *

><p>Don't worry, the British wizards aren't going to get directly involved at any point. I'm just including it because I feel like the war was the sort of thing that would end up in tons of history books. I feel like people around the world would know about it...<p>

Aaaanyways, please please please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Hey, sorry, but school basically starts tomorrow, so updates will likely be sporadic. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer...yeah

* * *

><p>"Wait, mommy, what are…demtors?<p>

"It's de_men_tors, honey. And I don't know. Why don't you check if it's in the book Mr. Tompkins left for you?"

"Alright, one sec," she sprinted away from the barn the family was sitting outside of and ran into the house. She burst into her bedroom panting a little bit. Annabelle gently picked up the tan book covered with images of dragons and hippogriffs and began to flip through it. Upon finding the page, she basically forgot about her family and dove into reading it. She grimaced at the moving pictures that graced the page across from the description. The image with the dementor with its hood down was equal parts horrifying and disgusting. She finished reading the description and ran back outside, the open book cradled in her arms.

"So those things are in your book?" Will asked his daughter as she approached.

"Yeah…they—they're really creepy," Annabelle replied with a slight shudder, a frown on her face. She lifted the book up, and everyone leaned forward to look at the moving pictures. "Basically, dementors are these dark hooded things that are kinda super evil. They apparently make people sad…"

"'Make people sad?'" Ironhide repeated, raising the ridge over one optic in question.

"Yeah, they suck the happiness and joy outta people. And they make everything really cold and dark. My book says that when they're near you, you have to relive your worst, unhappiest memories. A lotta times, people feel so hopeless, they can't even fight back. And…and sometimes…the dementors will pull down their hoods and…" she trailed off.

"And?" Will prodded.

"They…suck out your soul."

"_What_?" Sarah looked confused and horrified.

"But…" Ironhide protested, "There ain't no such thing as a—a SOUL. Ratchet said that they don't really exist as far as humans know. He said it's just a way humans try to explain sentience and consciousness!"

"Well, Ratchet isn't ALWAYS right," Annabelle said, sounding a bit annoyed. "He didn't know I was a witch. It says in my book that the dementors can suck out souls. It's called 'the dementor's kiss.'"

"So, what…they kiss you and you die?" Will frowned up at his daughter from where he was sitting in the grass.

"No," Annabelle sounded really troubled. "It's worse. "Fantastic Beasts" says that a person can live without a soul…but they're not really a person anymore. It says they're 'like empty shells; incapable of thought, feeling, and real life. It is a fate far worse than death, for your soul is lost. No one knows if the soul of those who have received the kiss is able to go on or if it is simply snuffed out of existence. There has never been a case in which a person who received the kiss came back as a ghost, so there is no proof one way or another.'" Annabelle finished reading from the book, before looking up at her silent family.

"Wait…" Ironhide looked sharply down at her. "_GHOSTS?_"

"Ratchet, old friend? Are you alright?" Optimus sounded concerned, as he looked strangely at the mech who had just seemingly fainted in the middle of a large hallway near the med bay.

"YES," Ratchet said through gritted teeth, pushing away the hand that Optimus offered him and staggering to his feet.

Optimus had just gotten out of a meeting with Prowl and Hound. He was on his way to check in with Ratchet, when he rounded a corner just in time to see his CMO's optics go dark as he crashed down to the floor. A moment later he was fine, although he was fairly seething.

"What—erm, just happened?" Optimus looked warily at the medic, who seemed quite uncomfortable and grumpy.

"I slipped," Ratchet lied blatantly; they both knew it.

"Does your…_slip_…have anything to do with the recording Ironhide just sent out?" Optimus followed Ratchet as he stomped back into the med bay.

"…Maybe," if he could have, Ratchet would've been blushing.

"Did—did your CPU just…crash? Again?" Optimus asked. His eyes glowed bright, sparkling in amusement.

"Ironhide _told you?_" Ratchet looked pissed.

"No," Optimus said casually.

"Then who else knows? Who told?"

"Actually, multiple Autobots and humans mentioned your…spat…with Ironhide. Mostly, they were lauding Mrs. Lennox for telling you two off," Optimus finally laughed at Ratchet's look of dismay.

"Do not worry, my friend. Your secret is safe with me. Now, if your reaction is any indication, I will go to my office before viewing Ironhide's recordings." Optimus smiled as left Ratchet, who sank down on a berth with a groan.

"I'm too old for this slag," he muttered to himself.

"_SOUNDWAVE ACKNOWLEDGES."_

"Ahhh, excellent, Soundwave," Starscream paced along the cave's rock floor, his hands behind his back, his head held arrogantly high.

"Although our ranks have faced difficulty after our great Lord Megatron's _tragic_ demise_, _we must carry on! Never shall we abandon the Decepticon cause!" Starscream declared dramatically, as though his words were not complete and utter bullshit. Soundwave remained silent. "I assume you brought your little…_pets_?" Starscream sneered.

Laserbeak screeched angrily as he swooped into the room, turning above Starscream, his talons coming dangerously close. He then landed gently on Soundwave's shoulder.

"Gah!" Starscream shrieked and spat a little bit. "Keep your slagging pets away from me!"

Ravage stalked into the room with a low growl, followed by Rumble. They both went to Soundwave, flanking him on either side. Soundwave rubbed Ravage's head absent-mindedly.

"Soundwave," Starscream snarled. "You will conduct surveillance on the Autobots that leave the base. The ones with fleshy pets. Give Knock Out a cloaking device. He will watch their base."

Soundwave stood there mutely for 43 seconds before turning around and leaving with his cassettes. Starscream shuddered. Primus, that mech could be creepy.

"Why did you decide to try the MPA?" [(A/N: Magical Protection Agency. Try and keep up with the acronyms—imaginary cookies to those who catch the reference)]

The woman had a Southern accent that she somehow managed to make intimidating. Combine that with the severe suit and the pursed lips, and you get quite a scary first job interview.

José fidgeted nervously. He'd never done a job interview before; when he got into auror training, it had just been based on getting good magical testing scores and taking the right classes. A year and a half into training, though, he felt lost. For as long as he could remember, José wanted to help people when he grew up. Automatically, he had thought of being a healer…but healer training was horribly expensive. And José just didn't think he had the right skills for healing. So he decided to join the aurors. He would be protecting good people. But after going on his first training missions, he became disenchanted with the whole idea. Some of the missions seemed petty and wasteful (spending time and resources arresting the sellers of illegal potions ingredients was ridiculous.) Some missions were depressing and brutal, and he had to witness horrific things. And he just didn't get to actually _help_ anyone. He obviously knew that, logically, he was helping in the grand scheme of things; but running around after harmless potions dealers sure as hell didn't feel like doing any great service to his community. Then he heard about the founding of the MPA.

"Well, ma'am, I want to help people. I want to protect innocent people. I was in auror training, but…some of it just felt wrong, and…it just wasn't the job for me. My mom's a muggle, so these terrorist attacks have really hit close to home. I want to help keep people like my mom safe from these bastards—_ahem—_bad, er, guys." He winced a little, rubbing the back of his neck. Thankfully, the woman's expression gentled a bit.

"Well, that's just what we're looking for here. Given your good record with the auror division, you can bypass a lot of tests, and we can get you out into the field pretty quickly. And fair warning, son: there ain't no training or rules to play by. This agency is making it up as we go…but do _not _quote me on that," she added quickly. "Lord knows the last thing I need is every goddamn government official with a stick up his ass breathing down my neck."

José grinned; he figured he and his new boss would get on just fine.

* * *

><p>PLEASE REVIEW, IT MAKES ME WRITE MORE!<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

This is going to be the last update for possibly weeks :(

Classes start tomorrow, but don't worry, I won't abandon this fic. I'm just going to be obscenely busy for a while.

Disclaimer: Unnecessary at this point. Just don't sue me.

* * *

><p>Barricade was utterly and hopelessly bored. He had not spoken with another being in over a year. The black and white Saleen sped into the Nevadan desert, and Barricade transformed, heedless of the fact that he was more susceptible to get the blowing sand stuck in uncomfortable places. Muttering Cybertronian profanities, the mech stretched and did some leaps and combat moves through the relative quiet of the desert. Frankly, the mech wasn't interested in getting back in contact with any of the other Cybertronians on Earth. Not that he wasn't craving a good fight or even some conversation; rather, he knew too well the complications that went along with working with either side in the bloody war. He wondered offhandedly if he could be considered a rogue…he decided he would still prefer to call himself a Decepticon, but he was most definitively not loyal to their cause.<p>

During the fight at Mission City, Barricade had fought the Autobots along with his Decepticon comrades. When Megatron fell, though, Starscream and Barricade, the only living Decepticons, had fled (separately of course). Starscream, the bloody coward, had left the face of the Earth altogether. For a brief period, Barricade had been the only 'Con on Earth. Barricade concentrated on staying under the radar. He had no idea why he didn't flee like Starscream. Whatever the reason, he did a lot of thinking (as well as running) over the next three years. The war was far from over, he decided, but Cybertron was lost. Maybe the Decepticons could take over Earth and turn it into their new Cybertron. The fleshlings frankly disgusted Barricade. But at that point in time, 'Cade was well aware that he was absolutely no match for the Autobots. So he had waited.

The first Decepticons to arrive had surprised him. Knock Out and Break Down were two mechs that he had heard of but never met. He hadn't thought too much of them, so he was surprised they had made it this far. Break Down had a rather slow processor, but at least he was bearable. Knock Out, on the other hand, was absolutely insufferable. He was prissy, impertinent, and obnoxious. It made very little sense; Knock Out had absolutely no desire to be a ruler, yet he despised being told what to do. He was sassy and would not cooperate with Barricade. Break Down was creepily loyal to Knock Out, so he was no easier to deal with. Then, matters worsened when Starscream returned. With Soundwave and his pets in tow. Starscream went around, issuing commands arrogantly. This managed to piss off both Barricade and Knock Out. The two were allies in hating Starscream. Why should he get to be the leader? He was a coward and definitely no genius. Then, it seemed like Decepticons and Autobots started following out of the sky nightly.

Everything was chaotic and infuriating and ridiculous, as the Decepticons fought among themselves and double-crossed each other for years until, finally, Barricade had had enough. About a year and a half ago, he just got up one night and left their "base" (it was basically just a slagging cave).

Barricade smirked to himself, imagining Starscream's outraged reaction to his desertion. He transformed and burned rubber as he floored it down the deserted road.

"Optimus, sir, we have detected signs of Decepticon activity," Hound declared as soon as he entered his Prime's office.

"Is it Barricade again?"

"Actually, there were two energon signatures that the sensors picked up on. Yeah, one was Barricade. Actually, his signature has not disappeared for months. He doesn't even bother with cloaks anymore. He just seems to be exploring the planet," Hound couldn't help the slight envy in his voice. Barricade had been through most of North America and some of Central America.

Optimus smiled slightly at Hound's attempt to remain professional.

"And the other signal?" Optimus asked.

"It was too brief to determine much of anything. It was detected, moving rather quickly, moving south in Northern Canada before disappearing, presumably with a cloa—"

The door burst inwards, and the twins ran in.

Both Optimus and Hound began to reprimand the twins, but the strange expressions on their faceplates silenced the other Autobots.

"Sir, there's going to be another sky-fall tomorrow," Sides sounded excited.

"It's due to come down in South Dakota in approximately 12 hours. The bot is not responding to our commands and attempts to hook up or hack them," Sunny added.

"So—" Sides began.

"They're either unfriendly, rogue, or damaged," Hound interrupted eagerly, excited at the prospect of another Autobot. As much as he loved his new home here on Earth, he dearly missed his friends and comrades.

Optimus sent a comm to all the Autobots on base. He also called Costanzo, Peters, and Keller.

Within a few minutes, everyone was gathered in Optimus's spacious office.

"Alright," Optimus said as he stood up, "Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Hound, Costanzo, and Peters. You will all go to the expected landing location. You all know the chain of command; you WILL obey Ratchet's orders unless I say otherwise." He looked pointedly at the twins, who tried their best to look innocent, causing Ratchet to snort. Discover the identity of the bot as quickly as possible. Be suspicious. If it's an Autobot, Ratchet, you will attend to any life-threatening injuries and determine the best course of action to get them back to base. If it is a Decepticon, give them space to retreat." He held up a servo to silence the twins' immediate protests. "You will _not _engage unless the enemy attacks first. First, and foremost, you will keep our existence secret and _protect the humans_."

* * *

><p>PLEEEAAAASSEEEEEE review!<p>

You have no idea how happy each and every review makes me. I feel useless when I can't get any feedback on a story.


End file.
